Like other levels of development on the spiral of consciousness (such as warrior, traditional, modern) the postmodern level of consciousness carries its own set of dignities and disasters. What I will attempt to do in this post is mention some ideas I have centered around one of its plusses, even though this simultaneously means the possibility that some will no doubt miss the point and reply with an entire litany of minuses (oh the joy of blogging!).

Dialogue or ‘conversation’ (a word, thanks to my friend Brian McLaren, that is all the rage within some sectors of discussion today) is important in just about every area of life I can conceive of. It’s an important element in all relationships, be they familial, political, spiritual, religious or educational. And it seems that all good dialogue demands a certain degree of openness about or sensitivity toward the idea that none of us knows everything – even within the universe of what we ‘think’ we may know – and THAT, I’m suggesting, is the cornerstone of dialogue. It’s called ‘humility.’

Since mine is a world of research, I’m often staggered at the thought of what I don’t know and sometimes dismayed at what I thought I knew that, as it turned out, I really didn’t. But this is a good thing – something that’s good for all of us – because it alters or should alter the way we converse with others. At a minimum it seems it should inspire us to err toward the side of congeniality.

As I flit through the blogging world I’m often disappointed in the real lack of conversation taking place. A lot of people seem to be speaking past one another, missing the point of posts only to latch onto pet-peeves or to indulge in the art of scapegoating, demonization of others or weaving wild speculative conspiratorial theories. Perhaps it’s the anonymity of the internet beast itself that is to blame for occasional episodes of disrespectfulness that seem to squirm their way out of us before we could catch our tongue  – a forum to vent or rage in ways we’d never do in person. I’m sure I’ve been guilty of this, how ’bout you?

In light of the enormity of the world’s problems, this is unfortunate. If ever there were a time to sit down and talk things through, to share ideas – even ones that require us to be vulnerable – I think that time is now.

So much war. So much killing. So much violence and hatred and bigotry. It’s time for an alter call of humility and graciousness.

Here’s hoping for a world of peaceful dialogue!

Today I’m going to introduce you to some of the most influential integral blogs. What is integral, you ask? It’s a way of seeing reality that attempts a comprehensive view of, well, everything, that’s open to – and indeed seeks to catalyze – growth. It’s become something of a movement, among specialists and non-specialists (Amateurs! Lovers!) alike. For more on integral theory, see this Wikipedia entry. Otherwise, read on…

This is a fairly comprehensive list of what I’ve found and read these last couple of years; if I have on gripe, it’s that intgrally-minded folks don’t blog nearly consistently enough. There are a ton of great blogs I had to omit simply because they haven’t updated since 2007. (I’m thinking Integral Life, or some such agency, should host a collaborative blog for voices with something to say but who don’t say things that often…) Anyway, dive right in – and feel free to nominate anyone I’m missing in the comments.

Beyond Growth

Blog: KedgeForward!

Boulder Integral TV

~C4Chaos

Corey deVos

Cherie Beck

Creative Emergence – Michelle James

David Byrne

Dr. Cam Freeman

Easily Amazed – Ashley Cooper

EnlightenNext Editor’s Blog

Finding Rhythm – Zach Lind

Frozen Truth – Apollo Lemmon

Graham English

Indistinct Union – Chris Dierkes

Integral Journal – Matt Holbert

Integral Options Cafe

Integral Playground

Integrative Spirituality

Kelly Sosan Bearer

Ken Wilber & Co.

Mystery of Existence

Mythos for Creatives - Manny Otto

Naked Reflections

New Heaven New Earth Pulse

NoeticFront

Numinous Nonsense – Vincent Horn

Open Integral

P2P Foundation

Revolutionary Man

Stephen Rose

Steve McIntosh

Stuart Davis

Thank God For Evolution – Michael Dowd

Integral Practice Notes and The Integral Company – Tom Goddard

The Sunny Way

Tripp Lainer

Zero Integral

Other Notable Integral Sites

Center for Human Emergence

Integral Life (blog-ish archives here and here)

Integral Institute

iEvolve: Global Practice Community

Integral Awakening

Spiral Dynamics Integral

Want to follow some of these folks on Twitter? Go here. (Tim is @post_christian by the way. I’m @zoecarnate) Want more blogs? Go here – but some of these are quite out of date.

Happy reading!

Behavioral scientists sometimes speak of different levels of human development and consciousness. For instance, ‘warrior’ consciousness expresses itself in terms of “the world is a jungle; eat or be eaten; express yourself and to hell with everybody else.” You have to admit those are not particularly admirable traits nor do they lead to admirable ways of interacting with others and the world at large. And yet, even though this level of consciousness is one of the lowest levels of all human interaction, suddenly it feels ubiquitous.

We’ve seen and heard it loudest in our most recent political discourse. The entire healthcare debate has seemingly polarized an entire country already diametrically opposed over its military involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  A member of the Republican Party interrupts the president’s speech on the house floor by yelling “liar,” followed by a poll of New Jersey conservatives stating that 18% of respondents believe President Obama is the ‘antichrist’ while another 17% say “they are not sure.”

Our nightly news is not much better. The running feud between FOX and MSNBC personalities (with a little CNN thrown into the mix just for fun) leaves us feeling soiled and even opining for ‘the good ole days’ – you know, when the news was just slanted, biased, sensationalized and all around poorly done!

Hang out on Facebook or other social networking sites and you’ll find a lack of civility in abundance there as well. The unholy trinity of such incivility, otherwise known as ‘scapegoating, demonization and conspiracy theories,’ abounds. 

My suspicion is that what lies at the root of most, if not all of this, has to do with identity. I and others have staked our identity on a plethora of outward ‘forms’: Right/left, Democrat/Republican, Conservative Christian/Liberal Christian, patriot/expatriate, on and on.

And once invested in the demonizing process, it’s hard to exorcise. Once the line has been drawn, it isn’t easy to get everyone to back off, take a breath, clear the deck – and just ask some bottom-line questions like: What is going on in the world? Where is there injustice today? What can be done about poverty and as quickly as possible? How can people without healthcare be assisted without taking advantage of others in the process? What can be done about the poor, the homeless, and the hungry, other than telling them to ‘get a job’ or ‘if you loved Jesus you wouldn’t be in this position’? Why do so many little children suffer needlessly?

Perhaps most of all, what could happen if we left our labels aside long enough to work together apart from politics and other ego-centric institutionalism(s)? What if we saw every person as part of the divine? What if we first sought the presence of God in every eye we met? What if we began to respond to each other as we would respond to the Unnamable (whatever that may be for each of us)?

What would happen, if in all things, we first sought civility?

These are all big questions, I know – some might say impossible ones – sicknesses without a cure; pathologies without hope of reversal. But it doesn’t change the basis of the need to recover some of what so much of has seemingly been lost: Civility.

It may not be too late to find it. And that, it seems, would be a good place to regroup and begin refocusing our efforts on some global ills that simply must be addressed before we reach the point of no return.

Once on a trip to Israel I was invited into the home of Fr. Elias Chacour, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He was quick to point out that many of the Christians who come to his land do so with a mindset that says, “let me tell you how it is done; let me show you the way to Jesus and the appropriate expression of the way your life is to reflect his presence.”

Said Chacour, “Nothing returns to the East that is true, that did not first go out from the East to begin with. Americans would do well to remember that.”

In essence he was, in his own way, repeating the principle of my friend; “don’t come over here speaking, come to listen; don’t come to show us the way, come to enter into our ways, our traditions, our understandings – before you say anything, come and walk in our shoes.” Stand under, or risk never understanding much at all.

That, for me, is what the expression of a self-emptying life looks like. It looks like service. It looks like standing under that we might lift up, hearing and entering into a deeper sense of belonging and acceptance with those we most wish to serve.

A missional lifestyle to me looks like foregoing convincing that we might opt for the higher call of deep embrace

Keynote speakers for the Spirituality and Celebration track are Tim King, author/activist, post-Christian; three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Palestinian Christian activist Elias Chacour; Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, Muslim, President of Alquds University, Jerusalem.